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      Identification of a cold receptor reveals a general role for TRP channels in thermosensation

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      Nature
      Springer Science and Business Media LLC

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          Abstract

          The cellular and molecular mechanisms that enable us to sense cold are not well understood. Insights into this process have come from the use of pharmacological agents, such as menthol, that elicit a cooling sensation. Here we have characterized and cloned a menthol receptor from trigeminal sensory neurons that is also activated by thermal stimuli in the cool to cold range. This cold- and menthol-sensitive receptor, CMR1, is a member of the TRP family of excitatory ion channels, and we propose that it functions as a transducer of cold stimuli in the somatosensory system. These findings, together with our previous identification of the heat-sensitive channels VR1 and VRL-1, demonstrate that TRP channels detect temperatures over a wide range and are the principal sensors of thermal stimuli in the mammalian peripheral nervous system.

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          Author and article information

          Journal
          Nature
          Nature
          Springer Science and Business Media LLC
          0028-0836
          1476-4687
          March 2002
          February 10 2002
          March 2002
          : 416
          : 6876
          : 52-58
          Article
          10.1038/nature719
          11882888
          c94d26b7-e071-40f3-812d-94aeb1655435
          © 2002

          http://www.springer.com/tdm

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